As the world's most popular social network, it has more than 1.3billion active users.

Now, Facebook is tapping its 185million US-based users to help find and return missing children.

From Tuesday, the company is sending out Amber Alerts that are geographically pinpointed. They will appear on the timelines of users who are in a search area where a child has been abducted.

Speaking of the initiative, launched in partnership with National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), the center's founder, John Walsh, said: 'This is a game changer.'

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Initiative: From Tuesday, Facebook is sending out Amber Alerts that are geographically pinpointed. Above, an Amber Alert (left), how it will appear on users' timelines (center) and how users can share it on the site (right)

The 69-year-old host of CNN's The Hunt told USA Today: 'Facebook is the 700-pound gorilla, 'It will put information about missing children into the hands of Facebook users immediately.'

Emily Vacher, trust and safety manager at Facebook and former FBI agent, said the alerts will include the missing child's photo and any other information that could be deemed relevant.

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She added that the 'comprehensive' alerts will be appear on users' timelines automatically. However, this will only be around one or two times a year, when they may be in a position to help, she said.

'When people see this on Facebook we want them to know that this is a very rare occurrence,' she said. 'If you see an Amber Alert delivered, it means you are actually in a position to be able to help.

Support: NCMEC founder John Walsh (left) described the initiative as 'a game changer', while Emily Vacher (right), Facebook's trust and safety manager, said the alerts will be sent to users who may be able to help

Example: The 'comprehensive' alerts will be appear on Facebook users' timelines automatically. They will include the missing child's photo and any other information that could be deemed relevant (pictured)

'The best chance of finding a child is when the right information gets to the people at the right time.'

She added that users will be able to delete the post should they desire, but Facebook hopes they will take the time to read the information, share it with their friends and keep an eye out instead.

Millions of people already use Facebook to share stories about missing children. In recent years, several children have been reunited with their families as a result of information shared on the site.

Indeed, last March, a missing 11-year-old girl was found in a South Carolina motel room after a clerk saw an Amber Alert that was shared on Facebook, according to the company and previous reports.

Success: The Amber Alert warning system was founded in 1996. Above, the first successful recovery of a child from the system was Rae-Leigh Bradbury (pictured with her parents at the NCMEC) in Arlington, Texas in 1998

The company hopes that the new Amber Alerts initiative will help locate more missing US youngsters.

The Amber Alert warning system was founded in 1996 following the brutal kidnapping and murder of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas. It was named in the youngster's honor.

Since then, more than 700 children in America have been found as a direct result of the alerts. They are now issued over TV and radio, on highway signs, as text messages and over the Internet.

Ms Vacher said Facebook's Amber Alert distribution tool is 'very comprehensive' and complements other systems that are currently in place.

Tragic: The 1996 Amber Alert system launch followed the brutal kidnapping and murder of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman (pictured, above, in a family photo) in Arlington, Texas. The iniative was named in the girl's honor

Text alerts and highway signs, for example, do not include photos of missing children, while the text alerts are limited to some 90 characters, she said.

On Tuesday, John Ryan, NCMEC president and chief executive said he was optimistic about the Facebook initiative because of the social network’s enormous reach.

The majority of the site's US users log on using their cellphones, meaning they will see the alerts at almost all hours of the day, even when they are out and about, he said.